The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

R >> R.V. Russell >> The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume I (of IV)

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_Cherwa_.--Subcaste of Kawar.

_Chetti_.--Subcaste of Gandli.

_Chhachan_.--(A hawk.) A section of Rawat (Ahir).

_Chhadesia_.--(A man of six districts.) Subcaste of Banjara.

_Chhadidar_ or _Darwan_.--Title of the Dahaits, who were door-keepers
of the Rajas of Mahoba in former times.

_Chhanava Kule_.--(The ninety-six houses.) A subcaste of Maratha.

_Chhatakia_.--An illegitimate group of the Kumhar caste.

_Chhattisgarhi, Chhattisgarhia_.--Resident of Chhattisgarh or the
region of the thirty-six forts, a name given to the eastern tract of
the Central Provinces. Subcaste of Bahna, Darzi and Halba.

_Chhehghar (Chhenghar)_.--(Members of the six houses.) A hypergamous
division of Kanaujia Brahmans. They take daughters from the other
two divisions, but do not give their daughters to them.

_Chhipa_.--(A dyer.) Synonym of Darzi.

_Chhoha_ or _Saroria_.--A subcaste of Agharia of mixed descent.

_Chholia_.--(Rubbish.) A section of Rajjhar.

_Chhote_.--(Inferior.) Subcaste of Agharia and Teli.

_Chhoti Pangat_.--A subcaste of Halba, Synonym Surait. Chhoti Pangat
signifies the inferior caste feast, and the implication is that these
members cannot join in the proper feast.

_Chhotki Bhir or Gorhi_.--(Low.) Subcaste of Rautia.

_Chhura_,--(Razor.) A section of Panka. It was their business to
shave other members of the caste after a death;

_Chicham_.--(Hawk.)--A sept of Gonds.

_Chicheria_.--(From _church_, forelock, which the children of this
sept wear.) A sept of Dhimar.

_Chika_.--Subcaste of Majhwar.

_Chikwa_.--Synonym of Khatik.

_Chinchkul_.--A section of Komti. They abstain from the use of ginger
and from the juice of the _bhilawa_ or marking-nut tree.

_Chita Purdhi, Chilewala_.--(Leopard-hunter.) A subcaste of Pardhi.

_Chiturkar, Chitrakar_.--(A painter.) Synonym for Chitari.

_Chiter_.--(A painter.) See Chitari.

_Chitevari_.--(One who makes clay idols.) Synonym for Mochi.

_Chitpawan_.--(The pure in heart.) A synonym for Konkanasth Brahman.

_Chitragupta Vansi_.--(Descendants of Chitragupta.) A name for
Kayasths.

_Chobdar_.--(A mace-bearer.) Title of Dahait.

_Chorbans_.--(Family of thieves.) A section of Chamar.

_Chourdhar_.--(A whisk-carrier.) A section of Sunar.

_Chuhra_.--Subcaste of Mehtar. Name for the sweeper caste in the
Punjab.

_Chungia_.--(One who smokes a leaf-pipe.) Subcaste of Chamar and
Satnami.

_Chunwiha_.--(From _chunri_, a coloured sheet worn by women.) A
section of Tamera.

_Churha_.--(Thief.) A subcaste of Sunar. A section of Chhipa.

_Cutchwaha_.--Clan of Rajput. Synonym for Kachhwaha.

_Daharia_.--(From Dahar, the old name of the Jubbulpore country.) A
clan of Rajputs which has developed into a caste. A subcaste of Bhoyar,
Kalar, Mahar, Maratha and Teli. A section of Chadar, Chamar and Katia.

_Dahat_.--A variant for Dahait. A subcaste of Khangar.

_Dahia_.--One of the thirty-six royal races of Rajputs.

_Daijanya_.--Subcaste of Chamar. They are so called because their
women act as _dai_ or midwives.

_Dakhne, Dakshne, Dakshni, Dakshini._--(Belonging to the
Deccan.) Subcaste of Bahna, Chamar, Gondhali, Gurao, Kunbi, Mahar,
Mang and Nai.

_Dakochia_.--A synonym for Bhadri, an astrologer.

_Dal_.--(From _dal_, an army.) Subcaste of Khond.

_Dalboha, Dalbuha_.--(One who carries _dhoolies_ or
palanquins.) Subcaste of Ghasia and Katia.

_Dalia_.--(From _dal_ or the pulse of Burhanpur which had a great
reputation). Subcaste of Kunbi.

_Dal Khalsa_.--(Army of God.) Title of the Sikh army.

_Dandewala_.--(One who performs acrobatic feats on a stick or
bamboo.) Synonym for Kolhati.

_Dandi_.--(One who carries a stick.) Name of a class of religious
mendicants. See article Gosain.

_Dandsena_.--(One who carries a stick.) Subcaste of Kalar.

_Dang-charha._--(A rope-climber.) Synonym of Nut.

_Dangiwara_.--Name of part of the Saugor District, which is called
after the Dangi caste. Subcaste of Kadera.

_Dangua_.--(A hill-dweller.) Subcaste of Taonla.

_Dangur_.--A small caste of hemp weavers numbering about 100 persons,
and residing almost entirely in the village of Masod in Betul
District. They are of the same standing as the caste of Kumrawat
or Patbina which pursues this occupation in other Districts, but
acknowledge no connection with them and are probably an occupational
offshoot of the Kunbi caste, from whose members they readily accept
any kind of cooked food. Like many other small occupational castes
with no definite traditions, they profess to have a Kshatriya origin,
calling themselves Bhagore Rajputs, while their families are known
by such high-sounding titles as Rathor, Chauhan, Gaur, Solanki and
other well-known Rajput names. These pretensions have no foundation
in fact, and the Dangurs formerly did not abjure pork, while they
still eat fowls and drink liquor. They neither bathe nor clean their
kitchens daily. They may eat food taken from one place to another,
but not if they are wearing shoes, this being only permissible in
the case when the bridegroom takes his food wearing his marriage shoes.

_Dantele_.--(With teeth.) A section of Purania Sunars in Saugor.

_Daraihan_.--A small caste of debased Rajputs found in the Bilaspur
District of Chhattisgarh and numbering some 2000 persons in 1901. They
say that their ancestors were Rajputs from Upper India who settled
in Chhattisgarh some generations back in the village of Dargaon
in Raipur District. Thence they were given the name of Dargaihan,
which has been corrupted into Daraihan. Others say that the name is
derived from _dari_, a prostitute, but this is perhaps a libel. In
any case they do not care about the name Daraihan and prefer to
call themselves Kshatriyas. They have now no connection with the
Rajputs of Upper India, and have developed into an endogamous group
who marry among themselves. It seems likely that the caste are an
inferior branch of the Daharia cultivating caste of Chhattisgarh,
which is derived from the Daharia clan of Rajputs. [438]

Like other Rajputs the Daraihans have an elaborate system of septs
and subsepts, the former having the names of Rajput clans, while the
latter are taken from the eponymous _gotras_ of the Brahmans. There
are fourteen septs, named as a rule after the principal Rajput clans,
of whom four, the Chandel, Kachhwaha, Dhandhul and Sakrawara, rank
higher than the other ten, and will take daughters from these in
marriage, but not give their daughters in return. Besides the septs
they have the standard Brahmanical _gotras_, as Kausilya, Bharadwaj,
Vasishtha and so on to the number of seven, and the members of each
sept are divided into these _gotras_. Theoretically a man should
not take a wife whose sept or _gotra_ is the same as his own. The
marriage of first cousins is forbidden, and while the grandchildren
of two sisters may intermarry, for the descendants of a brother
and a sister the affinity is a bar till the third generation. But
the small numbers of the caste must make the arrangement of matches
very difficult, and it is doubtful whether these rules are strictly
observed. They permit the practice of Gunravat or giving a bride for
a bride. In other respects the social customs of the caste resemble
those of their neighbours, the Daharias, and their rules as to the
conduct of women are strict. The men are well built and have regular
features and fair complexions, from which their Rajput ancestry may
still be recognised. They wear the sacred thread. The Daraihans are
good and intelligent cultivators, many of them being proprietors or
large tenants, and unlike the Daharias they do not object to driving
the plough with their own hands. In the poorer families even the
women work in the fields. They have a strong clannish feeling and
will readily combine for the support or protection of any member of
the caste who may be in need of it.

_Darbania_.--(Door-keeper.) Title of Khangur.

_Darshani_.--Title of the most holy members of the Kanphata Jogis.

_Darshni_.--(From _darshan_, seeing, beholding, as of a god.) A
sub-division of Jogi.

_Darwan_.--(A door-keeper.) Title of Dahait.

_Darwe_ or _Dalwe_.--A subcaste of Gonds in Chanda; the Darwes are
also called Naik.

_Darwesh_.--Persian name for a Muhammadan Fakir or religious mendicant.

_Darzi_.--A caste of tailors. Subcaste of Ghasia.

_Das_.--(Servant.) Used as the termination of their names by
Bairagis or religious mendicants. A term applied by Pankas and other
Kabirpanthis to themselves.

_Dasa_.--(Ten.) A subdivision of Agarwala and other subcastes of Bania,
meaning those of pure blood.

_Dasghar_.--(Ten houses.) One of the three subdivisions of Kanaujia
Brahmans. They give their daughters to members of the Chheghar or
six houses and receive them from the Panchghar or five houses.

_Dasnami_.--A member of the ten orders. Synonym for Gosain.

_Datta_ or _Dutt_.--Surname of Bengali Kayasths.

_Daune_.--A subdivision of Prabhu or Parbhu in Nagpur, so called on
account of their living in the island of Diu, a Portuguese possession.

_Deccani_.--See Dakhne.

_Dehalwi_.--(From Delhi.) A subdivision of Gaur Kayasths.

_Dehri_.--(A worshipper.) Subcaste of Sudh.

_Dekkala_.--(A genealogist.) Subcaste of Madgi.

_Delki_.--Subcaste of Kharia.

_Deo_.--(God.) A hereditary title borne by certain Feudatory Chiefs. A
surname of Karhara Brahmans in Saugor. A subcaste of Gandli in Chanda.

_Deobansi_.--(A descendant of a god.) Subcaste of Patwa.

_Deogarhia_ or _Rajkunwar_.--(From Deogarh.) A subcaste of Pardhan. A
subcaste of Audhelia made up of prostitutes. A sept of Dhimar.

_Deokia_.--Title used in the Bedar caste.

_Deoputra_.--(Son of god.) Synonym of Charan.

_Desa_ or _Kota_.--Subcaste of Balija.

_Desai_.--A variant for Deshmukh or a Maratha revenue officer. Title
of the Pardhan caste.

_Desawal_.--A subdivision of Brahman in Jubbulpore. They take their
name from Disa, a town in Palanpur State in Bombay Presidency.

_Desha, Desaha_.--(Belonging to the home country.) The name is usually
applied to immigrants from Malwa or Hindustan. A subcaste of Ahir,
Bargah, Bari, Chamar, Dhuri, Gadaria, Kalar, Kol, Kurmi, Lakhera,
Lohar, Mahar, Sunar and Teli.

_Deshastha_.--A subcaste of Maratha Brahmans inhabiting the country
(Desh) above the Western Ghats. A subcaste of Gurao.

_Deshkar_.--(One belonging to the country.) A subcaste of Gondhali,
Gurao, Kasar, Koshti, Kunbi, Mahar, Mali, Maratha, Nai, Sunar and Teli.

_Deshmukh_.--Under Maratha rule the Deshmukh was a Pargana officer
who collected the revenue of the Pargana or small subdivision, and
other taxes, receiving a certain share. The office of Deshmukh was
generally held by a leading Kunbi of the neighbourhood. He also held
revenue-free land in virtue of his position. The Deshmukh families now
tend to form a separate subcaste of Kunbis and marry among themselves.

_Deshpande_.--The Deshpande was the Pargana accountant. He was
generally a Brahman and the right-hand man of the Deshmukh, and having
the advantage of education he became powerful like the Deshmukh. Now
used as a surname by Maratha Brahmans.

_Deswali_.--Synonym for Mina.

_Devadasi_.--(Handmaidens of the gods.) Synonym for Kasbi.

_Devarukhe_.--A subdivision of Maratha Brahmans. The word is derived
from Devarishi, a Shakha (branch) of the Atharva Veda, or from
Devarukh, a town in Ratnagiri District of Bombay Presidency. Among
Brahmans they hold rather a low position.

_Dewangan_.--(From the old town of this name on the Wardha
river.) Subcaste of Koshti.

_Dhaighar_.--(2 1/2 houses.) A subcaste of Khatri.

_Dhakan_.--(A witch.) Subcaste of Bhat.

_Dhakar_.--Name of a caste in Bastar. A clan of Rajputs. A subcase
of Barai, Bania and Kirar. A sept of Halba.

_Dhalgar_.--A small occupational caste who made leather shields,
and are now almost extinct as the use of shields has gone out of
fashion. They are Muhammadans, but Mr. Crooke [439] considers them to
be allied to the Dabgars, who make leather vessels for holding oil
and _ghi_ and are also known as Kuppesaz. The Dabgars are a Hindu
caste whose place in the Central Provinces is taken by the Budalgir
Chamars. These receive their designation from _budla_, the name of
the leather bag which they make. _Budlas_ were formerly employed
for holding _ghi_ or melted butter, oil and the liquid extract of
sugarcane, but vegetable oil is now generally carried in earthen
vessels slung in baskets, and _ghi_ in empty kerosene tins. Small
bottles of very thin leather are still used by scent-sellers for
holding their scents, though they also have glass bottles. The song of
the Leather Bottel recalls the fact that vessels for holding liquids
were made of leather in Europe prior to the introduction of glass. The
Dhalgars also made targets for archery practice from the hides of
buffaloes; and the similar use of the hides of cattle in Europe
survives in our phrase of the bull's eye for the centre of the target.

_Dhamonia_.--(From Dhamoni, a town in Saugor.) A subcaste of Sonkar. A
territorial sept of Darzi and Dhobi.

_Dhanak Sammani_.--(One who reverences the bow.) A section of Barai.

_Dhandere_.--(Probably from Dhundhar, an old name of Jaipur or Amber
State.) A sept of Rajputs.

_Dhangar_.--(A farmservant.) Synonym of Oraon.

_Dhanka_.--Perhaps a variant for Dhangar. Subcaste of Oraon.

_Dhanoj_, _Dhanoje_.--(From _dhangar_, a shepherd.) Subcaste of Are
and Kunbi.

_Dhanpagar_.--(One serving for a pittance of paddy.) A section of Teli.

_Dhanuhar_.--(A corrupt form of Dhanusdhar or a holder of a
bow.) Synonym of Dhanwar.

_Dhanuk_.--(A bowman.) A caste. A subcaste of Mehtar.

_Dhanushban_.--(Bow and arrow.) A sept of Kawar.

_Dharampuria_.--(Resident of Dharampur.) Subcaste of Dhobi.

_Dhare_.--Title of Gowari.

_Dhari_.--A subcaste of Banjara. They are the bards of the caste.

_Dharkar_.--Subcaste of Basor.

_Dharmik_.--(Religious or virtuous.) A subcaste of Mahar and Maratha.

_Dhed_.--Synonym for Mahar.

_Dhengar_.--A subcaste of Bharewa (Kasar) and Gadaria.

_Dhera_. [440]--A small Telugu caste of weavers, the bulk of whom
reside in the Sonpur State, transferred to Bengal in 1905. The Dheras
were brought from Orissa by the Raja of Sonpur to make clothes for
the images of the gods, which they also claim to be their privilege in
Puri. Their exogamous groups are named after animals, plants or other
objects, and they practise totemism. The members of the Surya or sun
group will not eat during an eclipse. Those of the Nalla (black) sept
will not wear black clothes. Those of the Bansethi and Bhanala septs
will not use the _bandi_, a kind of cart from which they consider their
name to be derived. The Otals take their name from _utti_, a net, from
which pots are hung, and they will not use this net. Those of the Gunda
sept, who take their name from _gunda_, a bullet, will not eat any
game shot with a gun. Marriage within the sept is prohibited, but the
Dheras always, where practicable, arrange the marriage of a boy with
his maternal uncle's daughter. Even in childhood the members of such
families address each other as brother-in-law and sister-in-law. When
the bridegroom and bride go home after the marriage ceremony, the
bridegroom's sister bars the door of the house and will not let them
in until they have severally promised to give her their daughter for
her son. A girl must be married before arriving at adolescence on pain
of permanent exclusion from the caste. If a suitable husband has not
therefore been found when the period approaches, the parents marry
the girl to her elder sister's husband or any other married man. She
is not bound to enter into conjugal relations with the man to whom
she is thus united, and with his consent she may be consequently
married to any other man in the guise of a widow. If a bachelor takes
such a girl to wife, he must first be married to a _sahara_ tree
(_Streblus asper_). When a betrothal is arranged, an elderly member
of the bridegroom's family proceeds to the bride's house and asks her
people three times in succession whether the betrothal is arranged,
and at each reply in the affirmative ties a knot in his cloth. He
then goes home and in the bridegroom's house solemnly unties the
knots over another cloth which is spread on the ground. This cloth
is then considered to contain the promises and it is wrapped up and
carefully put away to keep them as if they were material objects.

_Dherha_.--(Brother-in-law or paternal aunt's husband.) Title of
Kharia.

_Dhimar_.--A caste. Subcaste of Kori.

_Dhimra_.--Synonym for Dhimar.

_Dhobi_.--The caste of washermen. A sept of Bharia and Bhaina.

_Dhokhede_.--One of doubtful parentage. A sept of Teli.

_Dholewar_.--(From _dhola_, a drum.) A subcaste of Bhoyar and Gaoli. A
section of Basor.

_Dholi_.--(A minstrel.) Subcaste of Bhat.

_Dhubela_.--Origin perhaps from the Dhobi caste. Subcaste of Basor.

_Dhulbajia_.--(From _dhol_, a drum.) A subcaste of Chamar, also known
as Daijania.

_Dhulia_, _Dholin_, _Dholi_.--(A player on a _dhol_ or drum.) Synonym
for the Basor caste. A subcaste of Gond in Chanda and Betul. A subcaste
of Mahar.

_Dhunak Pathan_.--Synonym for Bahna.

_Dhunia_.--(From _dhunna_, to card cotton.) Synonym for Bahna.

_Dhunka_.--(A cotton-cleaner.) Subcaste of Kadera.

_Dhur Gond_.--(From _dhur_, dust.) A subcaste of Gonds. They are also
known as Rawanvansi or descendants of Rawan.

_Dhuri_.--A caste of grain-parchers. A subcaste of Dhimar.

_Dhuria_.--Subcaste of Nagasia and Dhimar. They are so called because
they mark the forehead of the bride with dust (_dhur_) taken from
the sole of the bridegroom's foot.

_Dhurwa_.--The word may be derived from _dhur_, dust. Dhur is a name
given to the body of Gonds as opposed to the Raj-Gonds. One of the
commonest septs of Gonds. A sept of Baiga, Kolta, Kalar and Nat. A
title of Parja.

_Dhusar_.--Subcaste of Bania.

_Dhusia_.--Subcaste of Murha.

_Digambari_.--A sect of Jain Banias who do not clothe their idols and
apply saffron to their feet. Also a class of Bairagis or religious
mendicants.

_Diharia_ or _Kisan_.--(One who lives in a village or a
cultivator.). Subcaste of Korwa.

_Dikhit_, _Dikshit_, _Dixit_.--(The Initiator.) A subcaste of
Brahman. A clan of Rajputs of the solar race formerly dominant in
the United Provinces.

_Dila_.--(A pointed stick tied to a calf's mouth to prevent him from
sucking.) A totemistic sept of Kawar. They do not use a stick in this
manner. A section of Ahir.

_Dillawal_.--A subcaste of Kasar. Those belonging to or coming
from Delhi.

_Dingkuchia_.--(One who castrates cattle and ponies.) Subcaste
of Ghasia.

_Dipawalia_.--(One who supplies oil for the lamps at Diwali.) A sept
of Teli.

_Dipbans_.--(Son of the lamp.) Title of Teli.

_Diwan_.--Title of the members of the Dahait caste committee.

_Dixit_.--See Dikhit.

_Dobaile_.--(One who yokes two bullocks to the oil-press.) Subcaste
of Telis in the Nagpur country.

_Dobisya_.--(Two score.) Subcaste of Halwai.

_Doda_ or _Dor_.--One of the thirty-six royal races of Rajputs.

_Dogle_.--Name applied to Kayasths of illegitimate descent.

_Dohor_. [441]--A small caste of Berar, who are really Chamars;
in the Central Provinces the Dohors are a well-known subcaste of
Chamars, but in Berar they appear to have obtained a separate name,
under which about 6000 persons were returned in 1911. They work in
leather like the Chamars or Mochis. With the ambition of bettering
their social status among the Hindus the caste strictly observe the
sanctity of animal life. No Dohor may molest an animal or even pelt
it with stones. A man who sells a cow or bullock to butchers is put
out of caste, but if he repents and gets the animal back before it is
slaughtered, a fine of Rs. 5 only is imposed. If, on the other hand,
the animal is killed, the culprit must give his daughter in marriage
without taking any price from the bridegroom, and must feed the whole
caste and pay a fine of Rs. 50, which is expended on liquor. Failing
this he is expelled from the community. Similarly the Pardeshi Dohors
rigidly enforce infant-marriage. If a girl is not married before
she is ten her family are fined and put out of caste until the fine
is paid. And if the girl has leprosy or any other disease, which
prevents her from getting married, a similar penalty is imposed on
the family. Nevertheless the Dohors are considered to be impure and
are not allowed to enter Hindu temples; the village barber does not
shave them nor the washerman wash their clothes. A bachelor desiring
to marry a widow must first perform the ceremony with a _rui_ or
cotton-tree. But such a union is considered disgraceful; the man
himself must pay a heavy fine to get back into caste, and his children
are considered as partly illegitimate and must marry with the progeny
of similar unions. Either husband or wife can obtain a divorce by
a simple application to the caste _panchayat_, and a divorced woman
can marry again as a widow. The caste offer sheep and goats to their
deities and worship the animals before killing them. At Dasahra they
also pay reverence to the skinning-knife, and the needle with which
shoes are sewn. The caste burn the bodies of those who die married
and bury the unmarried. Before setting out for a funeral they drink
liquor and again on their return, and a little liquor is sprinkled
over the grave. When a man has been cremated his ashes are taken
and thrown into a river on the third day. The chief mourner, after
being shaved by his brother-in-law, takes the hair with some copper
coins in his hand and, diving into the river, leaves them there as
an offering to the dead man's spirit.

_Dolia_.--(Palanquin-bearer.) A section of Dhimar.

_Dom_.--An important caste in Bengal. See article Kanjar. Used as a
synonym for Ganda in the Uriya country.

_Domra_.--Subcaste of Turi.

_Dongaria_, _Dongarwar_.--(From _dongar_, a hill.) A sept of Bhil,
Dhobi, Mali, Mang and Sonkar. A surname of Maratha Brahmans.

_Dora_.--(Sahib or Lord.) Title of the Mutrasi caste.

_Dosar_.--Subcaste of Bania.

_Dravida_.--(Southern.) See Panch-Dravida.

_Dube_.--(A teacher and a man learned in two Vedas.) A common surname
of Hindustani Brahmans. A subcaste of Banjara.

_Dudh_.--(Milk.) Dudh-Barai, a subcaste of Barai; Dudh-Gowari,
a subcaste of Ahir or Gowari; Dudh-Kawar, a subcaste of Kawar.

_Dudh Bhai_.--(Milk-brothers.) A fraternity of Gonds in Betul, who
are apparently foster-brothers. They do not marry, though they have
different septs.

_Dukar_.--A subcaste of Kolhati. From _dukar_, hog, because they
are accustomed to hunt the wild pig with dogs and spears when these
animals become too numerous and damage the crops of the villagers.

_Dukaria_.--Title of the officer of the Andh caste who constitutes
the caste committee.

_Dulha_.--(Bridegroom.) A section of Chadar.

_Dumar_ or _Dom_.--A low caste of sweepers in Bengal. See
Kanjar. Subcaste of Basor, Ganda, Panka and Turi. Synonym and subcaste
of Mehtar. A section of Kawar.

_Durgbansi_.--A clan of Rajputs in Ragnandgaon.

_Dusre_.--(Second.) A subdivision of Shrivastab, Gaur and Saksena
Kayasths, meaning those of inferior or mixed origin as opposed to
Khare or those of pure origin.

_Dwarka_.--One of the most holy places in India, situated on or
near the sea in Gujarat. It is supposed to have been founded by
Krishna. Site of one of the monasteries (Ashram) of Sankaracharya,
the founder of the non-dualistic or Vedanta philosophy.

_Dwija_.--(Twice-born.) A title applied to the three higher classical
castes, Brahman, Kshatriya and Vaishya, and now especially to Brahmans.

_Ekbahia_.--(One-armed.) Subcaste of Teli, so called because their
women wear glass bangles only on one arm.

_Ekbaile_.--One who yokes one bullock only to the oil-press. Subcaste
of Teli.

_Elama, Elma_.--Synonym for Velama. A subcaste of Kapewar or Kapu.

_Erenga._--Subcaste of Kharia in Bengal.

_Erna_.--(From Eran, in Saugor district.) A section of Teli.

_Fakir_.--A Muhammadan mendicant. Synonym Sain. See article.

_Farid_.--Sheikh Farid was a well-known Muhammadan saint. A section
of Panwar Rajput.

_Farsi_.--Persian. From the Province of Fars. The term Farsi is
also used by the Hindus to signify foreign or non-Aryan languages
like Gondi.

_Fidawi._--(A disciple.) An order of devotees of the Khojah sect
known to the Crusaders as Assassins. Title of Khojah.

_Gadaba_.--Synonym of Gadba.

_Gadaria_.--A caste. Subcaste of Ahir.

_Gadha_.--(An ass.) A sept of the Uika clan of Gonds in Betul, so
named because their priest rode on an ass in crossing a river.

_Gadhao_.--(From _gadha_, an ass.) Subcaste of Kunbi.

_Gadhewal, Gadhere, Gadhwe, Gadhilla_.--(One who keeps donkeys. From
_gadha_, an ass.) A subcaste of Dhimar, Katia, Koshti, Kumhar and
Sonkar. A sept of Gond and Pardhan.

_Gadhwana_.--(From Garha, near Jubbulpore.) Subcaste of Nai.

_Gadiwan_.--(A cart-driver.) Subcaste of Dangri.

_Gadri_.--(From _gadar_, a sheep.) A synonym of Gadaria. A subcaste
of Dhangar.

_Gaharwar, Gaharval, Gherwal_.--One of the thirty-six royal races of
Rajputs chiefly found in Bilaspur and Khairagarh. A section of Patwas.